Overseas debt recovery

[Worried in OZ]

Hi everyone,

 

i moved to Australia 4 years ago and am struggling to pay back egg & royal bank of Scotland a substantial amount. I have been in contact with the CCCS and arranged a payment plan, however this to is a struggle. Do these companies have any way of sending a debt agency after me if i was to stop paying them?. My mother still lives in the UK and was constantly harassed by Egg ( as this was my last address) until i got the CCCS involved.....any advice would be most appreciated as it is making me sick with worry. Thnx:)

[rory32]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

What sort of figure do you mean by a substantial amount?

Do these companies have any way of sending a debt agency after me if i was to stop paying them?.

Yes but it may not be worth their while depending on the amount.

 

What types of accounts are these e.g. credit cards, loans, overdraft?

[Worried in OZ]

$25k a mix of credit card and loans

[rory32]

Okay. Have you ever asked for a copy of the credit agreement?

 

If the credit agreement doesn't contain all the prescribed terms (this is more likely for credit cards than loans) or they can't produce it (if one of your debts is an RBS credit card and is about ten years old this is likely) under the Consumer Credit Act the account is then completely unenforceable even in a court of law. This means that if you want you can push for the debt to be written off. Although in order to do that you would need to come out of your DMP with CCCS as they wouldn't stop paying the account just because it is unenforceable.

 

If you wish to ask for a copy of the agreement you can use template N here. Don't sign the letter.

 

The other alternative is to send a SAR (template here) to establish the amount of charges on the accounts and start the process of claiming them back to reduce the debt.

 

With the amount currently outstanding it is possible that they may pass it to a DCA in Oz - then again they may not - but I think if you start disputing the account then this will make it far less likely.

[Worried in OZ]

So if they pass it on to DCA in OZ can they take me to court etc? is uk debt collectable in Australia?

 

Thanks for your advice:)

[rory32]

UK debt is collectable in Australia but it's not straightforward. Anything that complicates matters DCA's think twice about touching as it will potentially lose them money if they take the account. That's why I would encourage you to start the ball rolling on disputing the debts or at the very least the amount outstanding on the accounts.

[rory32]

I forgot to say, it's unlikely that they will pass it to a DCA in Oz - but not completely implausible. If they were to try to do anything to you through the courts then they would have to use the UK courts.

[Worried in OZ]

So if they went through the uk courts ...do they have jurisdiction in Australia to enforce anything (bearing in mind i have no assets in the uk at all and am very unlikely to return to the UK in the very near future if ever.

[ADE&FAB]

Try looking at a thread called "Being chased in Australia" I don't know how to copy the link over to you but this person is in the same position as you and I.

 

Also "Confused and Overseas- Where do I start?" is also worth a look.

 

But it looks like they will have a very hard time chasing us.